Poultry blinder clip



March 16,' 1948. l M. HR'OwlTz 2,437,959

POULTRY BLINDER CLI P Filed Jan. 5, 1945 lNVENTOR Patented Mar. 16, 1948.UNTED SEATES PATENT QFFIC-E Harwood Company, Farmingdale, N. ,.l.,aiirm composed of Milton Gene Harwood and Louis 1 .lay HarwoodApplication January 5, 1945,SerialfN.o. '$1,461

3 Claims. (Cl. 119-97) Mydnvention relates to blinders, andmoreparticularly to anti-picking devices, which can be instantlyattached to and removed from poultry.

The use f blinders on poultry for preventing cannibalism isconventional. The task of at.- taching and removing the blinders isburdensome, more especially when respiratory diseases attack a flock,and to facilitate breathing, it may become necessary to remove thousandsof blinders in a relatively short time, from the beaks of poultry towhich they are attached.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a spring locking typeof blinder clip which may be easily applied to the nostrils of a chickenand readily rem-oved therefrom.

Further objects are to provide a blinder of the foregoing type which maybe opened by compressing the blinders and Tocked by releasing thepressure therefrom; to provide a -biinder which may be readily insertedthrough the nostrils of a chickens beak, and which will hold itself inposition by spring pressure; and to provide a blinder provided with apiercing means, which is releasably engaged by a spring-actuated meansnormally locking the piercing means in position, and to provideblinders, including the spring actuated means, and the piercing devicewhich are made of the same material, so that they may be mouldedtogether as a unit, or stamped from a single piece of sheet metal,having springy qualities; to provide a blinder which may be applied tothe beak of poultry, and removed therefrom by the use of one hand; toprovide a blinder' employing two piercing elements, one for each nostrilof poultry; to provide a spring flexed blinder wherein the blinders aredihedrally positioned in the direction of exure to facilitate a one handflexing operation.

I accomplish these and other objects and obtain my new results as willbe apparent from the device described in the following specification,particularly pointed out in the claims, and illustrated in theaccompanying drawing in which:

Fig. l is a perspective View of my blinders in normal position.

Fig. 2 is a similar view with the spring compressed.

Fig. 3 is a view showing the blinders attached to a chickens beak.

Fig. i is a top plan View illustrating the dihedral angle which theblinder may form to facilitate iieXing the bowed portion.

In the drawing, Fig. 1, I have illustrated one form of my invention. Itconsists of a section having end portions l0 and il, one for each eye,

f 2 madeintegral with-aband i2 of springy material, such as springsteel, and a piercing device comprising elements I3 and la. The springnormally supports the piercing elements in the position iown in Fig. 1,wherein the piercing elements are nearest to each other.

By applying the fingers 3!) of one hand to the blinders, as shown inFig. 2, and forcing the blinders towards each other, the spring l2 isflexed, and the piercing elements are pulled away from each other to theopen position. The Iblinders may be given a slight dihedral angle,similar to that shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 4, to facilitate the flexing ofthe spring in the right direction at the start of the exing movement.Such a slight dihedral will not effect the normal blinder function.

In the position shown in Fig. 2, the blinders may be attached to thenostrils l5 of a chickens beak I5. The pressure applied by the fingers351 is progressively released until the piercing elements penetrate theapertures on each side of the chickens beak, whereupon the fingers areremoved and the spring forces the piercing elements toward each other tolock the blinders thereto, as shown in Fig. 3. The band I2 will rest onthe beak I6 and support the blinders in proper position before the eyesIl of the chicken, which permits inspection of the ground, but preventsforward sight.

It should be noted that the piercing elements in all cases should be asthin as possible so as not to obstruct normal breathing.

By the foregoing, I have accomplished the objects of my invention. Ihave provided a blinder for attachment to the beaks of poultry, that isspring locked into position, and which may be .instantly releasedtherefrom. The blinder may be entirely made of plastic having sufficientresiliency in the band position to spring lock the device. The piercingelement may be in two sections as shown in Fig. 1. Further, the devicemay be stamped from a single piece of sheet metal, provided withsufcient springiness in the band portion, and shaped into the positionindicated in Fig. 1.

By designing the parts as shown in Fig. 1, the device may be quickly andconveniently installed and removed from the beak of poultry with the useof one hand.

In the claims, the expression spring acting locking means is intended tocover any means which will secure the piercing means in position on thenostrils of poultry Without loosening therefrom.

I have thus described my invention, but I desire it understood that itis not coni-ined to the particular forms or uses shown and described,the same being merely illustrative, and that the invention may becarried out in other ways without departing from the spirit of myinvention, and, therefore, I claim broadly the right to employ allequivalent instrumentalities coming Within the scope of the appendedclaims, and by means of which, objects of my invention are attained andnew results accomplished, as it is obvious that the p rticular.embodiments herein shown and descri ed are only some of the many thatcan be employed to attain these objects and accomplish these results.

I claim:

1. A blinder for poultry comprising spaced outer vision obstructionportions and an intermediate bowed connecting portion, the visionobstruction portion having pointed extensions adjacent the ends of theconnecting portion and in .4 the space between the vision obstructionportions.

2. A blinder as defined in claim 1, wherein the spaced outer visionobstruction portions, the pointed extensions and the connecting portioncomprise a structure made of a unitary piece of material.

3. The blinderl of claim 1, wherein the vision obstruction portions andpointed extensions are formed at a dihedral angle to facilitate flexingtowards each other to separate the pointed extensions.

MILTON HOROWITZ.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date o 13.136,342 Eisen Sept. 14, 19432,287,190 Mitchell June 23, 1942

